Sleeping Beast
by Calcifersgrl
Summary: EDITED! as of July 21. What if Beauty never returned to the Beast's castle? The Beast narrates first. Then it's two hundred years later, and the castle is crumbling . . .


Sleeping Beast  
  
By Calcifersgrl  
  
  
  
Author's Note:   
  
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. This tale is a combination of Beauty and the Beast/Sleeping Beauty. Notice the title =). I've updated it! Yeah! Thanks to Pami who edited it - I took some of the suggestions. Many thanks to people who review and say they like it.= )   
  
Now I remember where I got this idea from. There is this section in Robin McKinley's Beauty where it says "Yes. I would have died, and you and Greatheart would have returned to your family; and in another two hundred years this castle would have been lost in a garden run wild, with the forest growing up in the dooryard, and birds nesting in the towers. And in two hundred years after that, even the legends would have left, and only the stones remained." That got me thinking about what would happen if Beauty hadn't returned to the Beast's castle.   
  
*************  
  
"You will come back?" I asked pleadingly, though the growl that emerged from my vocal chords hardly reflected the sadness I felt.  
  
Beauty, my dearest Beauty, stood with her back to me. I could not see her face, and did not see the variety of emotions that crossed. I could hardly know her thoughts, but I hoped that she would say yes. She turned as the silence ticked past, precious time wasting away.  
  
I had to catch my breath again. She was so beautiful - internally and physically - her long dark hair was tucked behind her pale pink ears, and her green eyes were dark with a feeling that I could not fathom. There was sadness and another thing. Love? I wondered. Could it be love? Oh, how I desperately wished it to be so. To love and be loved in return - then the spell would be broken, and the forest, the castle, and all its inhabitants including me would return to normal. Could a beauty love a beast? Unlikely, I thought. It was just as unlikely for a beast to truly, madly, deeply love a beauty. Beauty smiled. Her smile almost broke my heart. It was so solemn, as if she knew she would never see me again. My heart flipped. Would she come back? Would she say yes?   
  
"Yes, I will come back," she said.  
  
We stood by the door - the door that marked my limitation - the door that kept me caged like the animal I looked in the enchanted castle. Part of my curse was that I was not able to leave the castle until I had exchanged vows of true love, and had been married. She grasped the doorknob and swung it open forcefully. I did not have time to prepare. The light of the outside world stung my eyes and blinded me for a moment. I blinked and hastily retreated into the comfortable shadows. I watched as Beauty stood in the sunlight, her expression turning into one of happiness and joy. I pounded myself in the head. I was a fool. That was where Beauty belonged. In the light, basking in the sunshine. I would truly be a beast if I insisted that she stay with me in my castle. My dark and gloomy castle with me as its equally dark and gloomy resident.  
  
Wait, persisted a voice at the back of my mind. What were the terms of the enchantment again? Doesn't the spell reverse when you love and the love is returned? Shouldn't you keep Beauty here? She will no longer know the darkness when the spell is broken. The curse will be lifted, and light will shine inside this castle once more. But she has her father, another voice argued. You cannot be beast enough to deny a girl a visit to tend to her ailing father. The first voice was still there, warning me. She will not come back. Why should she come back? She will stay in her father's house, and you and this old castle will be forgotten. Then where will you be? You shall remain a beast forever while this castle unravels before your enchanted eyes. The second angelic voice said, Do you doubt her? Have faith. She will come back. You have given your word; be the man she has let you become, and keep it.  
  
Beauty turned from the shattering sunlight, her arms dropping to her side. She held out her tiny hand to me and said, "Come."   
  
With that gesture, I felt an impulse to take it and come with her into the open. But I held back. I was being foolish. I would never be able to step into the sunlight. The doors barred my way, but I also barred myself. "I can't," I mumbled, shaking my head and taking an involuntary step backward, further into the darkness I knew so well.  
  
Beauty realized her mistake and her hand dropped back down to her side. She looked at her feet and murmured, "I'm sorry. I forgot." An intense longing swept over me, and I took a step forward. I wanted to know what she felt; her exact motives for saying "Come" to me. Could it - could it be that she wanted me by her side? That she loved me? I started to open my mouth when she glanced up again. She smiled reassuringly, but the smile was mostly on her lips. Her eyes were troubled when she said, "I will come back."   
  
I smiled too, while trying to fathom the distress reflected in her eyes. I felt the corners of my mouth pinch upward to reveal my hideous teeth. I still felt like a hulking beast besides her beauty, even though she was the only human to treat me like a man, and I quickly released the smile. She saw the smile and the beastliness, but she held my gaze with her eyes. Sparkling green eyes to strangely human blue eyes. The momentary distress had disappeared, and all that was left was warmth.  
  
I extended my paw, a gesture I had not done for so long, and she grasped it. Her hand lingered in my paw, and I wished it had stayed there forever. Instead of just shaking her hand, I wished I could take it. Beauty walked out into her sunlit world where her white horse stood impatiently waiting. She nudged it forward, and it broke into a canter. I watched in the shadows where the light could not blind me. I wanted her to look back, to wave, but she did not. She and her horse went down the long windy castle road, without a backward glance. I watched until they vanished into the enchanted forest; and even after they were no longer in my view, I kept my eyes trained to the road, as if I could will her to come back just by waiting for her.  
  
I shut the door quietly, and inside, I could almost hear and feel the sickening crack of my heart breaking into two. If she did not come back, I knew I would certainly die of heartbreak. But, I loved her more than anything, and my love for her would last beyond death.  
  
*************  
  
~ Two Hundred Years Later ~  
  
  
The reason for my journey was the ghost. She was not one of the ordinary ear-howling ghosts who wandered through the enchanted forest. My ghost was a distant relative - an aunt of many greats. I had counted four at least. Her name was Beauty, and she looked a little older than I was. She was fairly tall and awkwardly thin. Beautiful green eyes stared out of her pale face, and long dark hair framed it. Beauty seemed as solid as any other person did when I met her in the enchanted forest. It was not until I tried to shake her hand that my hand passed through hers. I was literally scared out of my wits.  
  
"Do not be afraid, Christiana," she told me, a faint smile on her beautiful face. "I'm an ancestor of yours - two hundred years into the past. You come from my sister Nicolette's line. My mother named me Lianore, but I have always been called Beauty."  
  
I stared at her. "But you're a ghost! You're over two hundred years old!"  
  
She sighed, turning her dark head. "He is over four hundred years old, yet he still lives."  
  
"Who?" I asked blankly.   
  
"He had never told me his name, and I suspect he had forgotten it himself. He asked me to call him the Beast."  
  
"Beauty and the Beast," I said in awe. "I have heard your tale several times. It is my favorite of all the fairy stories. There is actual love from the heart, and not love for the physical looks, as in so many of the other tales. It also shows that appearances can be deceiving."  
  
"I see that our story has been turned into a fairy story. How I wish that had been the case, but that is not the true tale. My tale does not bear the happy ending. I stand before you, a lonely ghost, while there he lies, enchanted in form and sleep, in a crumbling castle, overgrown by roses and brambles."  
  
"But," I stuttered. "Didn't you rescue him, proclaim vows of love? Didn't he turn into a human? Didn't you live happily ever after?"  
  
"No," replied Beauty sorrowfully, her eyes downcast. "I admit that I didn't learn that appearances could be deceiving. I was such a fool. When he let me leave his castle for that week, I promised to return. He said that if I did not come back, he feared he would die of heartbreak. I left for my father's house, but when I entered the homey circle of my family, I forgot. I forgot my promise. I remembered on the seventh day, but then I had no wish to return to the dark, gloomy castle with its equally dark, gloomy owner. He was a Beast. And I was Beauty. At that time, I did not believe we could ever be together. I loved him, now I see that. But before, I was afraid to love him. I would not let myself return. I stayed away for weeks, every day, every night, wondering whether my Beast was still alive. It was not until the enchantress who had first turned him into a hideous Beast came, that I learned my poor Beast was dead. She told me I had killed him. She berated me harshly." Beauty was quiet for a moment. "She said I was a coward, that I could have had my 'happily ever after' ending. The Beast loved me. I loved the Beast. I was just too much of a fool to admit it. I was afraid to marry the Beast. It was not that I was personally afraid. I was not sure how my family would react if I brought the Beast home with me. The enchantress would have punished me, but instead let me die by myself. My heart shattered and never mended when she informed me of the Beast's death. I died young, six months after the enchantress came and left."  
  
"Oh," I said. "That's so sad. But that's not the end, is it?"  
  
"As a ghost, wanting to repent, I wandered to his castle often. It was to my surprise to find him there, in an enchanted sleep. It seems the enchantress had lied when she said he had died. He would have been redeemed if I had not acted the part of a fool. She must have felt that he had proved himself capable of loving and winning love in return, so she was merciful. He did not die, but awaits us in his castle."  
  
"What would you have me do when we reach his castle?" I inquired.  
  
"Rouse him. It has been punishment for these last two hundred years. I can part the roses, but I can not touch him. He does not feel my touch, just like I cannot feel my own. I had always had a gift with the roses. I can sing to them, and they will answer me, but I cannot make them leave their castle walls. They will clutch them until at last the castle walls break and become nothing but a pile of ruins." She looked at me, with a hint of desperation in her eyes. "Do you see why we need to rescue the Beast? He will be buried alive, sleeping for all eternity." She whispered the last part, so faint that I almost did not hear. "I will save him, as I had not before."  
  
Beauty led the way past the gnarled trees that stretched and beckoned. The treetops were so dense; sunlight could not shine through. I shivered, not ever having been this deep into the forest. I had always wandered on the outer parts of the woods where the trees were less clumped together. It seemed that nothing active lived here among the tall, ancient beings. The trees were devoid of chirping birds, and the rustling of squirrels gathering nuts. It was so strange for all to be quiet. I suspected that the forest knew what we intended to do. It seemed to stand completely still and freeze, as if waiting for something to happen. The enchantress must have enchanted not only the castle, but the woods that surrounded it.   
  
Our journey was long. It was certainly not easy. Beauty seemed to glide right past the large stones, loose pebbles, broken branches, and other items hazardous to my well-being. I tripped, and slid, and fell many, many times. She waited for me, not looking the slightest bit impatient, but I could tell she was. At last, we reached a small clearing. She told me that beyond was the castle. I would have to follow up a long winding road to the castle doors.   
  
"Won't you come with me into the castle?" I pleaded with her, not wanting to enter the strange castle by myself.  
  
Beauty shook her head. "Only you can save him. I have brought you here. We will travel the path together, and I will call the roses to part so you will not die from their thorns. But," her voice shook, "it is too much for me to see him. You will marry him?"  
  
I shook my head in shock. "I could not do that. He is your Beast, not mine. I do not love him, but you do. And he does not love me."  
  
Beauty looked at me with a tired face. "We have come this far, I cannot stop now. He cannot leave the castle without exchanging vows of true love. You must agree to marry him."  
  
"That is why you must come. I will awake him, but you must exchange vows. You truly love him, and he truly loved you. You will agree to marry him." Beauty started to protest, but I plunged on. "I don't think it should matter that you are a ghost. Maybe the enchantress' spell will be deceived. But," I said, taking a huge breath, "if that doesn't work, I will agree to marry him." To myself, I thought, but it won't be likely that he should want to marry me. He shall choose.  
  
Beauty smiled, and began the way up the winding road. It was a sandy path, and the sand found its way into my shoe. It was most uncomfortable, but I did not stop. Beauty glided, like she always did, in grace. I looked up for the first time, and my eyes met the castle. I could not exactly see it, as it was shrouded by a hedge, and covered in brambles and roses. The roses were dark red, red as blood, and they were so pretty I could only stare. Beauty sang to them, and her song of haunting melody must have touched them, because they answered. They rustled their green leaves and slowly, ever so slowly, they began to part. I saw the castle, and was immediately dazzled. The castle was dark and held a dismal air. It was built of black stone, its pointed archways resembled eyebrows, and its many thin turrets stabbed at the dark clouds above it. It seemed alive, and I shivered a little, maybe more at its seemingly attentiveness than at the rising wind which blew cold air at our backs.   
  
When we entered the castle, the door shut behind us abruptly. It seemed to me that the castle was more haunted than enchanted. I did not express this to Beauty, who had only one intention. She waltzed up the stairs, and I followed more slowly. We went through the large maze of corridors, doors, and more stairs. I thought we must have gone up at least ten staircases. We were trudging up the tenth staircase, or rather, I was trudging. Beauty went up as easily as if she had not just walked through the many miles of the enchanted forest, the steep winding path, and throughout the bottom maze of the castle.  
  
She paused at the top. She did not say anything, but I could tell her pause meant that the Beast was on the level. She seemed to have a hard time walking forward. Her graceful glide was gone, and she began to walk a little bit more like me. It was delightful to see that she and I were a little alike after all.  
  
I pushed the heavy oak doors open. The Beast's lair was dark, but light could still seep in through the tattered curtains. The walls were torn and scratched from claws. Everything in the room bore those claw marks, the marks of the Beast before he had found his human side. But where was the Beast? I searched for him, and there he was. On the far side of the room lay the sleeping Beast. Beauty walked in front of me, while I stayed back. The Beast was taller than the average man. There was no name but "Beast" to call him, and no word but "hideous" to describe him.  
  
Beauty was crying. No tears dripped down her face, but I saw from the way she shook, that in her ghostly way, she was crying.  
  
"Shall I wake him?" I asked her gently. She nodded, shaking a little less. It was a hard thing to do; kissing a Beast is not as easy as the fairy stories would have described it. His face was hairy and scratchy to the touch. His mouth was coarse, but one would be after four hundred years and more of living.   
  
I stepped back, uncertain as to what had gone wrong. I had kissed the Beast, but he did not awake. Instead, he glowed golden, and I was forced to shield my eyes from the unearthly glare. Beauty, I saw, did not.  
  
When the glow had gone away, a very young and handsome man lay where the Beast had. I stared in fascination. He had blonde hair, pale and fine, that curled around his temple. His eyes were closed, but I somehow knew they would be blue.   
  
"Now it is your turn," I said to Beauty.   
  
Beauty laid her hands on top of the Beast's human hands, and said, "I love you Beast." She meant it with all her heart, and in those four words, I could feel the air tinkling with some strange magic. I was right because the young man began to stir. He opened his eyes to the sight of Beauty. He got up with incredible speed, and perched over the bed with his legs hanging.   
  
"Beauty, you came back."  
  
Beauty nodded grimly. "Yes, my dear Beast," she said softly. "I have come back."  
  
"Then you will marry me?"  
  
She shook her head. "It is too late for that. I am naught but a ghost."  
  
The young man drew a sharp breath. "You are dead, then. How long has it been?"  
  
"Two hundred years."  
  
"Two hundred years," he repeated slowly in disbelief. He let out a laugh that was warm. "Two hundred years. I have been alive for four hundred and twenty years. I have had more than my share of a lifetime. I am dead too in a way."  
  
He glanced searchingly at her. "How did you wake me, then?"  
  
"I did," I said, stepping forward for the first time.  
  
"She's a relative from two hundred years later. She's from Nicolette's line," said Beauty.  
  
The Beast blinked, and I saw his eyes were a blue darker than the sky and had as much depth as the sea. "It really has been a long time. Beauty, if you will not marry me, the spell cannot end."  
  
"It is a matter of cannot, not will not. If it were two hundred years into the past, I would marry you in a heartbeat. But it is not so, and the past cannot become the future. Christiana can marry you instead."  
  
"I cannot. I still love you Beauty, even after all this time. What does it matter if the spell does not end? I'm human again, yet I cannot stray from the doors of this castle. Will you stay here with me? It will make time more bearable. I'm certain it will not be long before I meet up with Death. You will wait for me?"  
  
"Always."  
  
I crept away, leaving Beauty and the Beast to their ending. Their bittersweet tale was not the happily ever after fairy story that I had grown up with in my mind. However, their story was more realistic than the one I knew.   
  
I would tell their story, and leave it for the others (the other children) to decide which they liked best. And in time, the roses would clutch the walls until its foundations could no longer hold, the castle would crumble, and the only true tellers of the story would remain beneath its ruins and the crushed roses. The forest would disenchant once the castle impaired. In another two hundred years, the enchantment, which beheld castle and forest, would be nothing but a legend. And the tale of Beauty and the Beast would be nothing but a tale, as it had first been for me.   
  
  
~ The End ~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
